


Laying down the law

by Happykiss



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Gen, Spanking of a minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 08:05:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7426822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happykiss/pseuds/Happykiss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag to "Young bloods"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laying down the law

Tom shook his head in angry disbelief.

What was the matter with those two punks, who thought that they were so clever? When he was still teaching he had come across dozens of those types, reckless and thoughtless about their own actions. 

But that was Tec and Boon, they weren't his concern because they weren't family. Matt was.

And Tom had honestly thought, he would not have to explain the dangers of playing skitter-bait to his own son. Of course, he was only nine years old and not an adult like the others but from very early on, Rebecca and himself had taught all of their children how to think for themselves and be able to make the right choices. 

But then the war had come and the lines of how to act and what would be the sensible thing to do, had become blurred. 

Both Hal and Ben were deeply linked with the battle against the aliens and took risks all the time. Of course Tom was just as worried about them but at least they both had been able to spend their childhood shielded and protected without a worry in the world. 

So, Tom had made it his goal to keep Matt away from this new harsh reality as long as he could. 

The only problem was that nowadays Matt seemed to disagree with his fathers choice at keeping him safe. 

The man rubbed one hand over his face to physically rid himself of the tiredness that came from his new responsibility's while he trying to be a good father for his boy's. 

"Whoa, that was one ticked off little boy I just saw running towards our quarters," Hal's voice startled Tom out of his thoughts and he turned to face his oldest son who despite having a small sarcastic grin on his face, looked at him with quiet worry in his eyes. 

"Everything alright with Matt?" he enquired further when his father only let out an angry huff as response.

Tom nodded. "Yes, he's fine. Even though that's only because he was damn lucky. Boon and Tector used him to lure out skitters to shoot them. And your little brother was all to happy to comply with this harebrained idea," Tom told him while they started walking towards the main hall. 

Hal's face instantly clouded over. "What the hell? Where are those idiots, I'm going to knock their heads together for that. He could have been killed," the young man shouted angrily but Tom placed a hand on his son's shoulder to calm him down and also keep him from running off to find the two other men. 

"I already took care of it. They both won't be seeing a gun in a very long time."

"Good," Hal nodded at that even though his agitation didn't vanish completely. 

"So, what about Matt?" The dark haired teen enquired. 

Tom didn't pause in his step but slowed down a little while facing his son. "What about him?" 

Hal sighed out loud. He had been dreading this kind of conversation for a while now but it seemed that their father really was a bit blindsided when it came to his youngest child.

"Well, what will you do? I know he's still young but he knows very well what he's allowed to do and what not. He's been skipping school for the last two weeks and he hasn't done any of the chores that were assigned to him," Hal told his dad and before the older man could defend Matt's behaviour, he pushed on. 

"He's been lying to Anne about not feeling well, so he didn't have to go to his classes but instead he goes off to spend his time with Pope and those other lowlifes. He's not even that sneaky about it, it's like he's just waiting to be caught," the brunet finished his speech and like usual Tom turned his focus away from the situation on hand. 

"Why didn't you take care of the problem then? If you knew it was going on like this?" He asked his son accusingly.

Hal stopped and looked at his father while shaking his head again. 

"Because I'm not the dad here. I'm not the one he is trying his worst to get some attention from."

Tom pulled his brows together as if in thought. He knew he had been busy lately, with the politics that were all but foreign to him and with managing this whole damn war. But of course Hal was right, he alone was the boys father and should be the one they would turn to with their problems and needs. 

He hadn't managed to take care of his youngest as much as it had been necessary and now the kid was pushing at his boundaries to see what would happen.

"What do you think I should do?" He asked his oldest son rather helplessly.

Ben and Hal had always been easy to handle because they would fight and be at each others throats all the time, Rebecca and him had never quite gotten out of practice of finding means of discipline for them. But Matt had always been their sweet little boy. 

Hal gave a lopsided little grin. "Well, I remember when I was about Matt's age I tried jumping from the roof to see if I could reach the trampoline and do a summersault from there. I thought that was a great idea too. When mom came home and caught me as I was about to jump off she shouted at me for 20 minutes straight and then made sure I would never put my own life in danger like that again," Hal smiled absentmindedly at those memories of his mom. She had always been a kind and loving woman but when her children were about to do something stupid, she would turn fierce. 

The two men had already passed through the main hall and now stood in front of the room that they shared as their home in Charleston. 

"I also remember how I could not sit down for a whole week," the young man added with a wink before slapping his father's back and wishing him good luck.

Now alone, Tom stood with one hand on the door handle and took a deep breath before entering their room. He didn't know if he could carry out what Hal had suggested because he had never thought the situation had required this sort of action. He exhaled and stepped into the room.

There was exactly one thing not waiting for him inside. His precious baby-boy. 

"Where the hell-" the oldest Mason swore under his breath before turning on his heels and stalked down towards the common areas. 

He spotted Ben standing with some of the younger soldiers. "Have you seen your little brother?" Tom enquired loudly and didn't even try to hide his budding anger. 

Ben raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the other men. "No, I haven't. But dad, lately he's spending a lot of his time over with Pope and his goons. I told him to stay away from them but- you know I'm on missions a lot now and I can't look after him as much," the middle Mason boy explained carefully and he saw understanding and also guilt growing in his fathers eyes. 

Tom put a hand to the back of his son's neck and gave a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry too. I know you try to be there for him and Hal just told me how Matt has been acting out lately. I'll have a word with him-as soon as I can actually find him," the bearded man promised and hoped to be able to lift some of the responsibility off his second youngest son. 

Ben nodded. "Thanks dad. But I don't think that talking is going to be enough."

Tom gave a surprised little laugh.  
"I honestly can't believe the first thing you and Hal agree on is how I should handle Matt," Tom was very surprised to get the same advice from both of his boys. 

Ben shrugged. "Seemed to work on us, when we were kids. Usually mom did it though, maybe she knew what a pushover you would be," the blond boy grinned at his father's mockingly offended face. 

"A pushover, huh?" Tom smiled at the memory of his late wife telling him exactly the same thing. That he had a too soft heart when it came to dealing with their offspring.

At that Ben shrugged again and smirked too. "Just remember that when you find Matt," the teenager told him before resuming his previous conversation with the others and Tom continued his search.

Soon, the noise and laughter from Pope and the other men and women who usually frequented the bar, could be heard.

As usual, the people here were drinking and celebrating life as if there was no tomorrow. And there, sitting on top of the wooden bar counter, still sporting his new favourite base cap, was Matt. The boy smiled shyly as one of the ladies of entertainment apparently had made a comment of how adorable he looked with his soft curls and baby face. 

Pope stood behind the kid and laughed as well before pushing the drunk woman roughly away when she was about to touch the boy's face.

"Hands off the kid," one of Popes gorillas growled. 

"Yeah, we don't want the Professor going off the deep end if someone harmed a hair on Baby-Masons head," Pope teased the boy and pushed the cap down over Matt's face but of course the man had already spotted Tom striding through the crowd towards them. 

Somehow the ex-convict had found a soft spot for the young boy and also wanted to keep him out of harms way even if it was by his own uncontroversial means. He also saw straight away that Tom would not be one to be messed around with today and that the little boy had finally reached the end of his leash. Well, tough luck kiddo.

Both men silently nodded at each other in acknowledgment. 

Matt however had not spotted his dad yet and was startled when Tom grabbed him up from the bar and pinned him onto his side with one arm. With his free hand he delivered two quick sharp slaps to the kid's upturned bottom. "That's enough!"

"Ow, dad," Matt howled while some of the people that stood around them stared with their mouths hanging open. The Tom Mason they all knew had never done anything like that before. 

"Thanks for watching him, Pope but Matt won't be coming around for a while," Tom spoke to the other man as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred and then he walked off with a still stunned Matt hanging from his iron grip by his side.

Pope gave them both a mock salute before yelling at the others to continue with their drinking and gambling.

Tom carried his son the rest of the way, ignoring the questioning and surprised looks he got from whoever was passing them by. But no one even thought to comment on what they saw. If the president wanted to make decisions and bring discipline and order to their community, he had every right to start with his own family.

At first, Matt had wanted to struggle against being treated like that by his dad but after the two sharp warning smacks he had already received, he had thought it better to remain still. 

They finally reached their families' bedroom and once inside Tom stood his son down to stand in front of him. 

The boy stared stubbornly at the ground with his lips drawn into an angry pout but Tom thought that his eyes were a little moist already. 

The man quietly counted to ten in his head before speaking. 

"When I told you to go to your room, did you not hear me?" He asked and watched the boy bite his lip but remain silent.

"Matthew, I'm going to ask you one last time. Did you or did you not hear me when I told you to go and wait in our quarters earlier," Tom asked sternly but tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. How was it that this had seemed easier when his other boys had been kids? 

Maybe it was because he did not have to go through it by himself. Rebecca always had been the tougher one of them both.

Still, Matt stared at the floor and shuffled one foot on the faded floorboards. "I heard you," he admitted softly. 

Tom sighed in relief. At least the boy was talking to him again. They could continue from here. "Why didn't you do what I told you?"

Tom then kneeled down on the floor to be able to look his youngest son in the face and finally Matt looked back at him, his eyes starting to fill with tears. But the boy sniffled and quickly wiped his face with one of his sleeves. He did not want to cry like a little baby.

"I didn't think you would notice," the boy told his father honestly and Tom felt like his heart was breaking at Matt's words.

He gently took his son's face in both hands and wiped the persistent tears away with his thumbs. 

"I'm sorry I haven't been a very good dad lately. But I promise you now that I will try harder to be there for you," with that he stood up from the ground and before Matt could protest at what was happening, Tom had sat down on one of the cots and placed his son facedown over his own lap. 

"No dad, please," the boy wailed and struggled against his fathers hold because he had just realized what was about to happen but Tom quickly trapped his flailing legs with his own thigh. 

Tom sighed because he really did not like to be the one doing this but decided not to waste anymore time and began laying down the slaps onto the boy's bottom.

Matt stopped struggling immediately and was wailing already after the first four smacks but Tom knew he had to keep going if he wanted this lesson to hit home.

After ten spanks with his hand he paused and started to rub slow circles over the kid's upper back to get him to listen again. 

"I love you, Matt and I won't stand by to see you come to harm. Your brothers would never forgive me if anything would happen to you and me," the man swallowed hard and felt his son's hot tears soak through his trousers. 

"I wouldn't know what to do without you. If this is what it takes for you to understand that you are not alone and to obey my rules just like Ben and Hal, then this is what I will do," he delivered five more swats to the back of Matt's upper thighs and his sit spots before sitting the boy up and gently holding him in his arms. 

Matt cried and sobbed into his fathers chest. "I'll be good, dad. I won't ever do it again," the boy promised and Tom knew that he really meant it. With all his nine year old heart he swore that he wouldn't place himself in danger again and Tom believed him but he already had a feeling that from now on, trouble would find a way towards his youngest son.

Later, after Matt had fallen asleep in his fathers arms and Tom had carefully put him to bed, the older Mason brothers quietly crept into their room. Tom glanced up from the papers he had been reading over, on the makeshift desk that now miraculously stood next to the bed of their youngest brother. 

The man needlessly lifted a finger to his lips to keep the boys quiet. 

Together they smiled at their father and shared a sympathetic wince at Matt's dried tear tracks that were still visible on his face from his earlier punishment.

"How's he doing," Hal whispered as he sat next to his youngest sibling and stroked the errant curls from his forehead. The kid didn't even stir at his touch.

Tom looked over at them and gave a tired smile in return. "He's going to be alright. I think we both will be." 

Ben had kicked his shoes and trousers off already and crawled into his bed but not before nodding proudly towards his dad. "We're sorry that you had to to this to him. If you hadn't done it, Hal or me already agreed that one of us would have- but were damn glad we didn't need to. That kid is just too damn cute for his own good," the blond glanced ruefully at his older sibling who gave a little shudder at the thought of having to punish their usually sweet and adoring baby-brother.

Tom nodded and felt his chest swell with pride because, even if he would not be here, his kids would always take care of each other. 

But before he turned the light off to retire to bed as well, he pointed first a finger at both his older boys and then his thumb at himself.

"And just so you both know, this 'Pushover' will bust your asses too, if you ever put yourselves in reckless danger," he grinned at both their horror stricken faces and then flicked the light off.


End file.
